Petra Kvitova felt both relief and a touch of confusion after achieving her first victory since returning to tennis at the Internazionali BNL d`Italia in Rome.
Winning her first match here feels a bit strange, she commented after beating Irina-Camelia Begu with a score of 7-5, 6-1. It had been ten years since the Czech player last won consecutive matches in Rome, a city where she admits she has “never played my best tennis”. Nevertheless, she added, “But it feels much better than losing, that`s for sure.”
The former World No. 2 had lost her first four matches since coming back, with defeats in Austin, Indian Wells, Miami, and Madrid – a sequence of results that she acknowledges with a wince. Despite these initial losses, her return has been unexpectedly filled with joy.
Reflecting on her last tournament before maternity leave, in Beijing in 2023, she admitted, “I was 95% sure that I would never return.” At that point, she felt she “had enough of tennis” and thought, “I can`t do it anymore,” which led her and her husband to decide to have a baby. She kept her doubts private as her decision wasn`t absolutely final.
After her son Petr was born in July of the previous year, that lingering 5% of doubt began to fade. Kvitova had found the inactivity during her pregnancy frustrating and was keen to start playing tennis again.
She recalled the feeling of playing again: “When I was finally able to be active after pregnancy, I played some tennis – and it felt incredibly good.” She even laughed while playing. “Every time I hit a shot cleanly, I thought, `Wowww – I still have it.` Maybe not the legs, but sometimes the hands are very good.”
This skill was clear in her match against Begu, where Kvitova lost her serve only once. This break happened when she first tried to serve out the first set at 5-4. However, she quickly recovered, winning eight of the next nine games. A standout moment was a remarkable backhand down the line, hit after chasing down a lob.
“I`m certainly not as physically fit as I`d like to be,” she stated. “But my game has been improving, even just in practice sessions.”
While hitting the ball still brings Kvitova happiness, she sighs when discussing the less enjoyable aspects of being a professional athlete.
“You have to train daily, you have to compete, you have to travel,” she said, her voice turning somber. “Those are the parts I don`t enjoy… Practice, gym work, recovery routines. I found myself thinking, `Oh my god, seriously, this again?`”
Hotel rooms now feel small, especially as Petr is starting to crawl “everywhere” and sleeps less. Kvitova and her husband and coach, Jiri Vanek, now prefer staying in rented apartments, providing their son with space to play and a more comfortable, home-like environment.
For now, the pleasure she gets from playing tennis outweighs the demanding routines. Kvitova is choosing not to set specific goals or put a time limit on this phase of her career.
“I`ll keep playing for as long as I`m enjoying it,” she stated resolutely.
Kvitova`s next opponent in the second round will be No. 27 seed Ons Jabeur. Kvitova holds a 4-2 lead in their previous encounters, but this will be their first match on clay.
Dominic Ashworth 
Jasper Hawthorne